Skip to main content

Narrow approval for CAFTA

So CAFTA passed. One thing that gives me confidence in CAFTA is the overwhelming opposition to CAFTA by the Democrats. They can be so predictable sometimes. I am no lawyer, so I don't know the specifics of this one, but let it be clear--I am all for free trade and removed barriers and tariffs. If this is what CAFTA does, today is a day to celebrate for Central America.
WASHINGTON - The House of Representatives narrowly approved a controversial trade deal with Central America early today, handing Silicon Valley's high-tech industry and President Bush a major victory after weeks of intense lobbying and deal-making.

Despite that support and the relatively small size of the market, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, known as CAFTA, struggled to pass in the House, 217-215. The GOP leadership extended the normal 15-minute voting period to an hour as it lobbied for support. The pact passed in the Senate, 54-45, on June 30.

More than 90 percent of House Democrats voted against CAFTA, arguing that it will cost U.S. manufacturing jobs because it is not strong enough on labor and environmental rights in the Central American countries. The vote continued a drop in House Democratic support for controversial trade deals that could hurt the party with the high-tech industry.
Join the ongoing conversation at Technorati:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Al Cardenas Comments on Univision Democrat Forum

Al Cardenas is Chairman of Romney for President's Hispanic Steering Committee. I got the following email from the campaign. Boston, MA – Al Cardenas, the Chairman of Romney for President's National Hispanic Steering Committee, issued the following statement regarding tonight's Democrat presidential forum on Univision: "Tonight's Univision forum demonstrated once again the consequences that a President Clinton, President Obama or President Edwards would have on the Hispanic community.  Whether it's tax increases for families and the two million Hispanic business owners, socialist-style health care, coddling dictators, opposing free trade with our allies or putting family values last, the Democrat presidential candidates made clear how out of sync their policies are with the best interests of the Hispanic community. Mitt Romney has put in the effort to reach out to this vital bloc, and, after watching tonight's debate...
Post a Comment
Read more

Harry Potter Mania -- Discussion

There is a great discussion going on at WorldMagBlog on the whole Harry Potter mania. Nothing to do with Latinos, I suppose, but I thought I would ad my two cents. A reader commented: I think its interesting how much people want to be in a group that is all connected by some common thread. It says a lot about our desire for homogeny, not always along racial, sexual or religious lines, but also simply based on what we do in our spare time. The interesting thing about Harry Potter fans vs. Star Trek fans is that a vast majority of them are kids who have grown up with the books, or the parents of said kids. I wonder if what sort of effects this will have on them as they get older (and whether or not they will remain HP fans). We live in an obsessive culture. Posted by David B. at July 22, 2005 07:54 AM This is an interesting phenomenon. I would think it is indicative of our society, more than anything else. I tend to agree with the idea that it shows a desire or need for communi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Communism: Good Money for the "El Viejo"

I guess Fidel Castro is doing ok . Forbes lists Castro as one of the richest in the world, right up there with the Queen of England. I bet he didn't like the attention. It was hard to figure it out, but it seems they managed to throw some numbers together. In the past, we have relied on a percentage of Cuba's gross domestic product to estimate Fidel Castro's fortune. This year we have used more traditional valuation methods, comparing state-owned assets Castro is assumed to control with comparable publicly traded companies. A reasonable discount was then applied to compensate for the obvious disclosure issues.
1 comment
Read more